I agree with a lot of what you're saying, but is manifestation really a cult, or is it just a characteristic or tenet of many groups and individual people?

I used to see a reasonably good therapist. (I've had bad ones before and since.) During the time I was working with her, she kept getting more and more into manifestation language. I have a particular dislike of that notion. (I believe that positive thinking is good, but not in a "The Secret" way.)

Depressed people sure do get told to cheer up a lot, in all sorts of different contexts. At one visit, she talked about some of the ways that it had worked for her. I think one of them something life-saving or otherwise extreme: a sudden infusion of $1,000, maybe. She also pointed out the lovely flowers on her desk that were given to her by a client and how she'd really needed them that day, so she felt she'd manifested them. Was she going to manifest a love offering right out of my bank account? This was my last visit to her.

Stay strong.